After spending 5 weeks travelling over 2,500kms in this wonderful country and putting the caravan through its paces we are heading home to regroup and plan the next adventure(s)! The caravan exceeded our expectations 😊🙏.

Due to it’s proximity to Newcastle and the Hunter Valley wine region, Drovers Camp is very popular particularly over weekends. Booking late we didn’t have much (any) choice of sites. We accepted a location by the dam but the slope of the site was challenging.

Chaffey Dam is unique in inland NSW for its distinctive brick-red rock wall made of semi-precious stone and its unusual morning glory spillway. The lake and its foreshores are a popular destination for water sports and fishing enthusiasts, nature lovers, bushwalkers, campers and picnickers. The main purpose of the dam is to supply irrigation and stock needs in the Peel River Valley of northern NSW, and to supply water to the city of Tamworth. Camp sites are available on the lake foreshore at Bowling Alley Point Recreation Reserve. 

Nundle

Great little town. We toured the Nundle Woollen Mill (which was terribly interesting and refreshing to see ie taking raw material, manufacturing products and selling them), had lunch at the The Peel Inn and then traveled up to Hanging Rock Lookout. Another great day!

Second visit to this farm just as an overnight stay. Previous visit was 4 years ago. Dean has accomplished so much over this time… sites for caravans, rock fencing, upgraded power, etc. His cryopack smoked trout are a must buy and also the pate!

Crossed back into NSW today and the temperature keeps dropping… expecting 0° tonight.

Foxbar Falls is a campground located in Queensland’s cold country, the Granite Belt. Two-and-a-half-hours from Brisbane, and 15 minutes north of Stanthorpe. Camping is a secondary business to carrot production.

We pretty much had the place to ourselves. Loved our site location with views across Amiens lake, the bird life, walks, the peace AND carrot ice cream. Yes, carrot ice cream… it was delicious, one of the best flavours of all time!

Stanthorpe
The town is home to a range of cafes, boutique stores and galleries, all surrounded by farmlands, fruit orchards and vineyards. We visited a winery, an apple producer/cafe, cheese factory & Donnelys Castle (natural granite outcrop).

About 30 minutes north of Toowoomba is the 5th generation farm called Bannock Brae. We met 3/5 of the generations. Set up in a paddock with no other guests we had a marvelous farm stay experience. This included mustering and a farm tour by “Pop”.

Returning to Caloundra gave us the opportunity to visit Mum, Brian & Jenny, to have the car/caravan weighed, to do some laundry (big items which would easily fit in our washing machine) and for the caravan’s 1st service. We stayed about 20 minutes west of Caloundra on a rural property… very peaceful.

Mum is much stronger and confident as she moves about with her walker. She is happily participating in many activities offered at Little Mountain. Looking pretty in her new dress.

Very flash machines!

Both the car and caravan were weighed. Pleasingly both passed!

This is a beautiful, peaceful place but not on weekends, with the Mary River meandering past 100’s of camping acres. Originally and still operating as a dairy farm sometime ago a section of the farm was made available for camping. All guests must be self contained except for a toilet. I made the rookie mistake of underestimating how popular this region is. I am guessing but on Friday & Saturday there would have been 40-50 camp sites with an average of 3-4 people. At $20/person/night that works out to be a tidy sum for very little expense.

Visited Kenilworth early Saturday to get a coffee and have a look around the town. Very busy including market stalls. We were astonished at how over occupied the showground was. Every available space was taken by a caravan, motorhome or tents! The town title “RV Friendly” seemed appropriate.

Such a sunny day, we drove a short distance to Mapleton National Park, took in the view, did a short 1.5km walk, had a prepared lunch and then moved onto to for a bigger and more challenging walk to view Gheerulla Falls… unfortunately there was only a small volume of water flowing.

Maleny Botanic Gardens 
& Bird World

Maleny Botanic Gardens is a unique, privately owned garden, consisting of nearly 23 acres of gardens, set on a 110 acre property. Overlooking a backdrop of the iconic Glass House Mountains and surrounded by magnificent rainforest. Layered and terraced gardens interspersed with a multitude of stunning waterfalls and lakes only add to the majestic nature of this unique attraction that sits high on the escarpment.